ASSEMBLY 2026

Marcie joined Old Republic in May 2014 as Assistant Vice President and Claims Counsel. In October 2017, Marcie became Vice President and Southeast Region Claims Counsel and Manager.  In addition to these duties, in July 2021, Marcie became Manager for the Tampa Corporate Legal Office. In June 2025, Marcie was promoted to First Vice President, Senior Claims Counsel and Regional Claims Manager and now serves as the manager of the newly merged claims team.

Prior to her time with Old Republic, Marcie worked as Claims Counsel for another national underwriter from 2011 to 2014.  Before her work with national underwriters, Marcie worked in private practice.

Marcie is a member of the Real Property Probate & Trust Law section of The Florida Bar and the Florida Land Title Association.  Marcie serves on the Florida Land Title Association’s Claims Education Committee and as Master of Ceremonies for the FLTA’s Claims Roundtable. Since 2010, Marcie has been a member of the Pinellas County Chapter of the Florida Association for Women Lawyers, serving as its President in 2015 and 2016.  Marcie is a 2013 recipient of the Florida Association for Women Lawyers’ “Leaders in the Law” award.

Marcie earned her Juris Doctor from Stetson University College of Law and her Bachelor’s Degree from Allegheny College, magna cum laude.    

Stuart I. Grossman is a founding partner of Levine Kellogg Lehman Schneider + Grossman LLP. Mr. Grossman is Chairman of the firm's real estate practice group and has been since the firm's inception. For more than 25 years, Mr. Grossman has focused his practice on real estate and real estate litigation, representing buyers, sellers, lenders, developers, and institutions in all aspects of commercial and residential real estate transactions, from initial acquisition through development. Mr. Grossman has represented some of the country's largest title insurers as an outside claim counsel on complex mortgage fraud cases, as well as helping to resolve various title claims in federal and state court actions throughout the state of Florida. Mr. Grossman has also represented several high-profile clients in eight-figure acquisitions, including a large Palm Beach County developer in well over 50 real estate transactions totaling more than $250 million. Mr. Grossman obtained his B.A. degree from Muhlenberg College and his J.D. degree from the University of Miami.

Mr. Grossman has been listed in The Best Lawyers in America, Super Lawyers, and in the South Florida Legal Guide's "Top Lawyers." Mr. Grossman was recently named "Lawyer of the Year" in the 2026 Edition of the Best Lawyers in the areas of Litigation/Real Estate.

George Perez currently serves as Senior Claims Counsel for Old Republic’s Southeast Claims Group of the Corporate Legal Department.  He graduated from the University of Central Florida and Brooklyn Law School and has almost 20 years of in-house claims experience.  Prior to his in-house career, the, Mr. Perez was in private practice where he was involved in transactional real estate for both residential and commercial properties; , as well as representing institutional lenders.  He was also a real estate and title insurance litigator representing several title insurance underwriters.  During his years of private practice, Mr. Perez was also involved in estate planning/probate and trust administration as well as business law.  He has taught in Valencia College’s ABA. accredited paralegal studies program in addition to being a regular speaker at various company conferences and seminars.  He is a member of The Florida Bar.

Jacqueline Perez is a partner with KHL Law in its Tampa office. She obtained her B.S. degree from a college in Savannah that is now part of Georgia Southern University, and her J.D. degree from Stetson University College of Law.

Ms. Perez has been in private practice with a focus on real property litigation for over 17 years.  She is a true "dirt lawyer," and her favorite cases involve MRTA, boundary disputes, and forgery.  She regularly presents at the Florida Land Title Association's Round Table.

Mario Ruiz is a Board-Certified Business Litigation lawyer with more than three decades of trial and appellate experience.  His trial practice includes a variety of business disputes, title claims, real property litigation, banking, construction and other civil matters.

Mario earned his law degree cum laude from the University of Miami School of Law, where he was an editor of the Inter-American Law Review.  He earned his bachelor’s degree from Florida International University.  After law school, he clerked for the Honorable David M. Gersten at Florida’s Third District Court of Appeal.

Patricia “Trish” Ladan, currently serves as Asst. Vice President, Florida State Counsel for Old Republic National Title Insurance Company.  She is responsible for providing underwriting support and counsel to agents, customers and Company personnel, related to the issuance of title insurance commitments and policies across Florida. As an attorney with more than 20 years of experience in real estate law and title insurance underwriting, Trish is well versed in transactional and litigation matters, having represented lenders, developers, community associations, title insurers and insureds. 

Trish formerly served as Texas State Counsel for another title insurer, prior to rejoining Old Republic Title. Before working for Old Republic in 2017, she was Senior Underwriting Counsel, Florida Associate State Counsel for another national title insurer, located in Winter Park, Florida.

She has also served as Managing Attorney for a real estate law firm in Winter Springs, Florida, with responsibility for its Florida Mortgage Foreclosure Department. Early in her career, Trish worked for the Texas General Law Office, in Austin, Texas and several real estate law firms. 

Trish is a member of the Real Property Probate & Trust Law section of The Florida Bar, the Real Estate, Probate and Trust Law section of the Texas Bar, the Florida Land Title Association (“FLTA”) and the Texas Land Title Association (“TLTA”). She currently chairs the Governmental Affairs Committee and serves on the Forms Committee for FLTA and the Legislative Committee for TLTA.

Trish earned her Juris Doctor from Quinnipiac University School of Law and her Bachelor of Arts Degree in government from The University of Texas at Austin. She is a member of the Florida and Texas Bars.

Linda Monaco received her B.S. in Industrial Distribution from Texas A&M University and her J.D., magna cum laude, from Quinnipiac University.  She is admitted to practice law in Florida and the United States District Court for Connecticut and is retired from the Connecticut Bar.  Ms. Monaco is a Florida Board-Certified Real Estate Lawyer and a Florida licensed real estate instructor. Ms. Monaco has written and presented numerous seminars and webinars. Ms. Monaco has presented several times at Fund Assembly and Fund Affiliate Assembly on topics such as Best Practices, FIRPTA, Ethics, Sovereignty Lands, Liens, Property Assessed Clean Energy Funding (PACE), and Probate and Trust. She has served as master of ceremonies at the Fund Affiliate Assembly multiple times. She also presented Basics of FIRPTA to the National Association of Realtors ® as well as a short program on Property Assessed Clean Energy Loans (PACE Loans) to FLTA and RPPTL.

Dr. Jessica Lautz is the Deputy Chief Economist and Vice President of Research at the National Association of REALTORS®. She has been with NAR since 2007.

The core of her research focuses on analyzing trends for both NAR members and housing consumers. She is in demand as a speaker and by major media outlets to provide commentary on the real estate market. She has testified before Congress on behalf of NAR.

She also volunteers at Nottingham Trent University as an industry fellow mentoring real estate graduate students, is a committee chair at the National Association of Business Economics, bakes birthday cakes for underserved youth with Cake4Kids, and sits on the board of the Food Recovery Network.
Dr. Lautz has been recognized by Housing Wire's Women of Influence and RISMedia's Newsmaker award.

Jessica received her Doctorate of Real Estate from Nottingham Trent University in the United Kingdom. She also holds a Master's in Public Policy from American University and undergraduate degrees in Political Science and Law and Justice from Central Washington University.

Kara Scott, an attorney in Old Republic Title’s Education Department, presents on a variety of topics in addition to co-teaching New Agent Training, Paraprofessional Training and Commercial Training.  Additionally, Kara travels throughout Florida, speaking on various real estate law topics to Realtor associations, bar associations, real estate councils and others. Prior to joining the Education Department in 2023, Kara was a Senior Associate in a Sarasota law firm, with a practice focused on residential and commercial real estate transactions, business law, land use and estate administration. Kara is a graduate of Rhode Island College and New England School of Law and practiced law in Rhode Island for 24 years before moving to Florida in 2019. Kara is a member of FLTA’s Education Committee, The Florida Bar’s RPPTL section and its Title Issues & Standards Committee.

John B. “Jay” St. Lawrence is Regulatory Compliance Counsel. He earned degrees in journalism and law at the University of Florida and was admitted to the Florida Bar in 1995. Prior to coming to The Fund and Old Republic, Jay practiced bankruptcy and real estate law. He is a member of the Florida Bar’s Real Property, Probate & Trust Law Section and has been admitted to all Florida Federal District Courts.  He joined The Fund in 2004 as claims counsel and now works with the Education Department, where he has created and taught programs on topics including FinCEN, RESPA, cyber security, private lending after Dodd-Frank and Homestead. In addition to his duties as Regulatory Compliance Counsel, Jay co-teaches New Agent Training and Commercial Training courses and edits the Title Notes chapter on bankruptcy.

Marcie joined Old Republic in May 2014 as Assistant Vice President and Claims Counsel. In October 2017, Marcie became Vice President and Southeast Region Claims Counsel and Manager.  In addition to these duties, in July 2021, Marcie became Manager for the Tampa Corporate Legal Office. In June 2025, Marcie was promoted to First Vice President, Senior Claims Counsel and Regional Claims Manager and now serves as the manager of the newly merged claims team.

Prior to her time with Old Republic, Marcie worked as Claims Counsel for another national underwriter from 2011 to 2014.  Before her work with national underwriters, Marcie worked in private practice.

Marcie is a member of the Real Property Probate & Trust Law section of The Florida Bar and the Florida Land Title Association.  Marcie serves on the Florida Land Title Association’s Claims Education Committee and as Master of Ceremonies for the FLTA’s Claims Roundtable. Since 2010, Marcie has been a member of the Pinellas County Chapter of the Florida Association for Women Lawyers, serving as its President in 2015 and 2016.  Marcie is a 2013 recipient of the Florida Association for Women Lawyers’ “Leaders in the Law” award.

Marcie earned her Juris Doctor from Stetson University College of Law and her Bachelor’s Degree from Allegheny College, magna cum laude.    

Chezare Palacios is Claims Counsel for Old Republic. He earned his Bachelor of Science Degree in Civil Engineering from Florida Atlantic University in 2012 and his Juris Doctor with Honors from the University of Florida Levin College of Law in 2016.  Prior to joining Old Republic, Chezare was in private practice as a litigation attorney in the areas of title curative, property and contract disputes.  He also served as in-house Claims Counsel for a national title insurance underwriter.  He is licensed to practice in the states of Florida and New York.   

George Perez currently serves as Senior Claims Counsel for Old Republic’s Southeast Claims Group of the Corporate Legal Department.  He graduated from the University of Central Florida and Brooklyn Law School and has almost 20 years of in-house claims experience.  Prior to his in-house career, the, Mr. Perez was in private practice where he was involved in transactional real estate for both residential and commercial properties; , as well as representing institutional lenders.  He was also a real estate and title insurance litigator representing several title insurance underwriters.  During his years of private practice, Mr. Perez was also involved in estate planning/probate and trust administration as well as business law.  He has taught in Valencia College’s ABA. accredited paralegal studies program in addition to being a regular speaker at various company conferences and seminars.  He is a member of The Florida Bar.

Caleb Hinton is a Senior Underwriting Counsel based in Orlando.  Caleb obtained his Bachelor of Science in Criminology and his Juris Doctor from Florida State University.  In 2023, Caleb became a Board-Certified Real Estate attorney through The Florida Bar.  Prior to joining Old Republic, Caleb’s real estate practice focused primarily on commercial leasing and commercial land transactions including acquisitions, development, and sales.

Scott Jackson earned his M.L.S. degree from Florida State University and his J.D. degree from the University of Miami in 2002.

Scott immediately began working in the title industry, first with American Pioneer Title Insurance Company handling both underwriting and claims, before moving to Attorneys’ Title Insurance Fund in 2004, now Old Republic Title.

Scott is an active member of the Real Property, Probate & Trust Law Section of The Florida Bar and frequently represents Old Republic at PRIA regional meetings.

Amber Elizabeth Ashton joined Old Republic Title’s Underwriting and Education Teams in May 2019. Amber spent the first thirteen years of her career working in private practice for law firms as a real estate litigator.  Amber’s practice primarily involved resolving title issues, complex and high-risk foreclosure actions, eminent domain litigation, quiet title litigation, and business litigation in state and federal court.  Amber also has extensive experience litigating against homeowners’ associations and local governmental entities regarding lien rights to property post-foreclosure.  Amber served as the Special Magistrate for the City of St. Pete Beach, Florida from 2015 through 2019, for all code enforcement matters, as well as administrative appeals.  Amber received her Bachelor of Arts, double majoring in English and Art History, from Vanderbilt University. She obtained her Juris Doctor, cum laude, from Stetson University College of Law.  Amber is licensed to practice law in Florida and is a member of the Executive Council of the Real Property, Probate & Trust Law Section of The Florida Bar.  She is admitted in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida and the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida. Amber holds the highest ranking an individual attorney can receive (AV-Preeminent), as designated by the Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory.

Marcie joined Old Republic in May 2014 as Assistant Vice President and Claims Counsel. In October 2017, Marcie became Vice President and Southeast Region Claims Counsel and Manager.  In addition to these duties, in July 2021, Marcie became Manager for the Tampa Corporate Legal Office. In June 2025, Marcie was promoted to First Vice President, Senior Claims Counsel and Regional Claims Manager and now serves as the manager of the newly merged claims team.

Prior to her time with Old Republic, Marcie worked as Claims Counsel for another national underwriter from 2011 to 2014.  Before her work with national underwriters, Marcie worked in private practice.

Marcie is a member of the Real Property Probate & Trust Law section of The Florida Bar and the Florida Land Title Association.  Marcie serves on the Florida Land Title Association’s Claims Education Committee and as Master of Ceremonies for the FLTA’s Claims Roundtable. Since 2010, Marcie has been a member of the Pinellas County Chapter of the Florida Association for Women Lawyers, serving as its President in 2015 and 2016.  Marcie is a 2013 recipient of the Florida Association for Women Lawyers’ “Leaders in the Law” award.

Marcie earned her Juris Doctor from Stetson University College of Law and her Bachelor’s Degree from Allegheny College, magna cum laude.    

Tom Cronkright is the Executive Chairman of CertifID, a technology platform designed to safeguard electronic payments from fraud.  He co-founded the company in response to a wire fraud he experienced and the rising instances of real estate wire fraud. He also serves as the CEO of Sun Title, a leading title agency in Michigan. Tom is a licensed attorney, real estate broker, title insurance producer and nationally recognized expert on cybersecurity and wire fraud. 

Douglas F. Pollock, President and founder of IDSnetwork, Inc., has more than 40 years of experience in conducting investigations into white-collar crimes, including: cyber-crimes, employee theft, title agent and attorney defalcations, real estate and mortgage fraud, Ponzi schemes and advanced fee schemes.

Mr. Pollock received a Bachelor of Science degree in Criminology from Florida State University in 1973 and has been actively involved in the investigation of white-collar crimes throughout the United States and Latin America. The Association of Certified Fraud Examiners awarded Mr. Pollock the designation of Certified Fraud Examiner in 1996.

Mr. Pollock was formerly a contract instructor for the US Treasury Department, Federal Law Enforcement Training Center, Financial Fraud Institute and the Miami Dade Metropolitan Police Academy for more than twelve years and has provided both professional consulting services and expert witness testimony on behalf of several state and federal agencies.

Since 2014, Mr. Pollock has focused his investigations in the areas of cyber-crimes including business email compromise schemes, seller imposter fraud and wire fraud.

Colleen Coffield Sachs is Florida Senior State Counsel for Old Republic Title. She received a B.A. in both Political Science and English and a J.D. from the University of Mississippi. Before becoming an underwriter, Colleen was in private practice. After practicing for several years in New Orleans, Louisiana, Colleen returned to her home state of Florida, where her practice emphasized real estate, land use, and development law. Colleen is an active member of the Florida Bar Real Property, Probate & Trust Law Section. She is a former chair of the Florida Bar Continuing Education Committee, current Chair of the Real Property, Probate & Trust Law Section Disaster and Emergency Readiness and Preparedness Committee, and a current member of the Florida Realtor-Attorney Joint Committee, where she co-chairs the contract subcommittee. She is a frequent speaker on real property topics, including land use, leasing, commercial real estate, and real estate financing. 

Patti Moser is the Owner/Broker of Horizon Realty of Alachua, Inc. since 1980 and Owner/Manager of Alachua Title Services, LLC since 2000. She is an alumna of the University of Florida. Patti has been involved in many leadership roles with the Gainesville-Alachua County Association of Realtors including past President and Stellar MLS Director, as well as the Professional Standards Chair and Mediator. Patti has Chaired the Realtor-Attorney Joint Committee, is a long-time member of the Florida Realtors/Florida BAR (FR/BAR) subcommittee, a Key Contact, and an Instructor for Professional Standards and the FR/BAR Contract. Patti has served as a Federal Political Coordinator with the National Association of Realtors since 2012. She has held roles in the title industry as well, including FLTA Government Affairs Committee Chair, FLTA Board of Directors, ALTA Congressional Liaison, ALTA Congressional Liaison Committee, TIPAC Committee, and ALTA Title Action Network Committee. Patti enjoys spending time on her farm with her husband Jeff, working outdoors in her orchard and vegetable garden, playing with their two grandchildren as well as cheering on the Green Bay Packers and the Florida Gators. 

Kristen King Jaiven, Esq., is an attorney at Nishad Khan P.L. and focuses her practice on the representation of small businesses, including real estate brokerages and other related business ventures. Kristen has experience in DBPR investigations, Board of Realtor complaints, and brokerage compliance matters. She also assists with corporate operations and implementing robust marketing plans for various types of business ventures. Kristen currently represents the 4th Appellate District on the Florida Realtor-Attorney Joint Committee and serves as Co-Chair of the Real Property, Probate, and Trust Law Section’s (RPPTL) Residential Real Estate and Industry Liaison Committee.

Kristen holds a J.D. from St. Thomas University School of Law with a Certificate in Environmental Justice and has an L.L.M. in Environmental Law from Vermont Law School with a Certificate in Food and Agriculture Law.

Shannon Widman earned her B.S. degree in Political Science at Syracuse University and J.D. Degree from University of Miami School of Law. 

As Legislative Counsel for Old Republic Title, Shannon is responsible for leading advocacy efforts on behalf of the company and its agents nationwide, with special focus on the state of Florida. Shannon takes an active role in the industry’s leading associations, including the Florida Land Title Association (FLTA), the American Land Title Association (ALTA), and the Real Property, Probate and Trust Law (RPPTL) Section of The Florida Bar where she currently serves on the Executive Council and as Co-Vice Chair of the Title Insurance Industry Liaison Committee. 

Prior to corporate work, Shannon was in private practice for 24 years, specializing in real estate transactions, commercial loan transactions and real estate development on Florida’s Emerald Coast and 30A corridor.  

Ted Conner is Senior Vice President, Old Republic National Title Insurance Company and Deputy General Counsel of Old Republic National Title Holding Company. Ted’s responsibilities include managing Old Republic Title’s Regulatory Department in the Corporate Legal Division. Ted earned a B.S. degree in business administration with a major in real estate from the University of Florida and a J.D. degree from the University of Florida College of Law. He is also a Florida board certified real estate lawyer. Ted has authored chapters in Florida Real Property Title Examination and Insurance and Florida Real Property Sales Transactions (Fla.CLE).  Ted serves on the NAIC Liaison Committee of the American Land Title Association. He is also serving as vice-chair of the governing board of Port Tampa Bay. 

James Russick is Vice President, Southeast Regional Counsel, for Old Republic National Title Insurance Company.  Jim has been a title insurance underwriter for over 40 years and has also been deeply involved with legislative and regulatory matters impacting real property and title insurance in Florida for decades. 

Jim is Board Certified by the Florida Bar in Real Estate and serves on multiple substantive committees of the Executive Council for the Real Property, Probate, and Trust Law Section.  Jim has served on the Title Insurance Forms Committee of the American Land Title Association since 2003 and chairs the Existing Forms and the Commitment Subcommittees.  

Jim is a Past President of the Florida Land Title Association and a Fellow in both the American College of Real Estate Attorneys and The American College of Mortgage Attorneys.  He is a retired United States Air Force Reserve Judge Advocate.  

For more than 20 years, Chris Smart has tried real estate, title insurance, and consumer finance cases on behalf of national title insurance companies, mortgage lenders, and real estate owners, developers, and investors. He has handled high-profile litigation involving title insurance coverage, closing protection letter claims, title agent defalcations, and insurance bad faith claims. He has also tried lender liability, consumer protection, loan servicing, and mortgage foreclosure cases and defended real property developers. Chris’ trials have involved litigation over the sale of real property, the authority to sell real property, a buyer’s status as a bona fide purchaser for value, condominium developments, restrictive covenants, easements, and Florida’s Marketable Record Title Act. Recently, Chris led a team in a two-week jury trial defending against the plaintiffs’ claims for damages and punitive damages based on a negligence cause of action against a title insurer, which resulted in a favorable settlement for the client prior to closing arguments.

 As a complement to his substantial trial experience, Chris also has a comprehensive understanding of the real estate industry and title to real property, and serves as an expert witness on Florida’s real estate industry practices and customs. He is the current chair of the Real Property, Probate, and Trust Law Section of the Florida Bar’s Title Insurance and Title Insurance Industry Liaison Committee and the former longtime chair and continuing active member of the Title Issues and Standards Committee. He also works with the section to promote legislation necessary for and helpful to Florida’s real estate industry. 

Chris is the 2023 recipient of the John Arthur Jones Annual Service Award, awarded by the Real Property, Probate, and Trust Law Section for his dedicated and outstanding service to the section. He is also an active member of the Florida Bar’s Civil Rules Committee, a former member of the Code and Rules of Evidence Committee, and a fellow of the American College of Real Estate Lawyers.

Rebecca Wood is a Senior Underwriting Counsel at Old Republic Title, having originally joined The Fund in 2014. She is a 2010 graduate of the University of Florida’s Levin College of a Law, and a 1988 graduate of King College. She became a Board-Certified Specialist in Real Estate Law in 2018. Rebecca is on the RPPTL Section’s Executive Counsel and is the immediate past Chair of the Florida Bar’s Real Estate Certification Committee. Rebecca is a contributing author to the Florida Real Property Title Examination and Insurance book, as well as being active with her local bar association. 

John Brown is a Florida Bar board-certified lawyer in real property and a member of both the Florida and Kentucky Bars. He earned his Juris Doctor from Salmon P. Chase College of Law at Northern Kentucky University. Prior to becoming an underwriter, Mr. Brown represented national retailers in purchase contract negotiations, leasing, site evaluation, engineering, permitting, land use, environmental evaluation and compliance, survey review, title and closing. He has represented private and public companies negotiating the terms of operational and construction financing. He has represented governmental entities through closing on multiple land parcel exchanges and during the issuance of municipal bonds for utility financing. His practice also included structuring and consummating 1031 exchanges, joint development projects, cellular tower site evaluation and closings, hotel project development and closings and a variety of commercial due diligence efforts.

Mr. Brown is a member of the Real Property Probate and Trust Section of the Florida Bar, CREW Tampa Bay and a board member of the Gulf Coast Builders Exchange.

Megan Crandall Solomon joined the Company in 2017.  Prior to joining the Underwriting team, she was Senior Claims Counsel. In 2025, Megan became a Board-Certified Real Estate attorney through The Florida Bar.  She earned her law degree from Nova Southeastern University in 2009 after having received a bachelor’s degree with honors in Criminal Justice with a minor in Interpersonal Communications from the University of Central Florida in 2006. 

Prior to working with the Company, she practiced as an attorney focusing on real estate, bankruptcy, title disputes, code enforcement matters, and lien foreclosures in federal and state actions throughout the state of Florida.  She was also involved with achieving title claims resolutions and curative measures for lending institutions.